Chapter 299 Failed to Ask for Help

Chapter 299 Failed to Ask for Help

The prefect and the marquis cannot do business during such a special time, so why can't they call on the gentry and wealthy households of Baoding Prefecture to donate money and goods?

These people donated supplies, so isn't it only right that they send people to help deliver them to the disaster-stricken areas?

If the soldiers they send to escort disaster relief supplies happen to be traveling on the same route as Xie Wanniang's caravan, wouldn't that also be acceptable?

We can't expect people to nitpick and impeach them in court for profiting from disasters, right?

Furthermore, he could also suggest that they arrange some patrol teams to help local county governments, which only have a few constables available for deployment, maintain local security and overall order.

With their people shuttling back and forth, both the disaster victims and those who wanted to profit from the disaster would inevitably have to be more cautious and restrained.

With their strong support, the disaster-stricken areas will inevitably have a relatively abundant supply of food, salt, medicine, and other supplies. As a result, caravans that want to exchange three or five kilograms of coarse grain flour for a young woman or a strong laborer will naturally have to lower the prices of their goods.

Even if Xie Wanniang's financial resources are limited, her goal of stabilizing prices can actually be achieved indirectly.

As for those people who were traded by other caravans, Jiang Yuan said that it was really not their concern.

Let alone ordinary people, even the founding emperor of the Great Wei, who had unified the world, could not protect everyone within the territory of the Great Wei.

When human strength is finite, the only thing they can do is to give their all when doing something, and after it is done, they can summarize their experience, but they must never make things difficult for themselves.

After discussing the follow-up matters with Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan immediately went to tell Chang Yao about it.

Chang Yao greatly admired the couple's generosity in the face of impending disaster, but he had to tell Jiang Yuan the bad news he had just received.

"Nearly half of the northern Hu region is about to face drought. The latest intelligence from our scouts says that many of their tribes have already begun slaughtering cattle and sheep to minimize the consumption of fodder."

Although the grasslands are vast, the lush and fertile areas have historically belonged only to the powerful tribes with strong armies and well-equipped horses.

Those small tribes that lost their grasslands due to drought either merged into larger tribes and became inferior, or they could only reduce their consumption and migrate with their people to more remote and desolate places.

Large tribes also affected by the drought would take advantage of their strong and well-equipped armies to plunder during the disaster.

On one hand, they were attacking the passes of the Great Wei and attempting to plunder southwards. On the other hand, they would not let go of those on the grasslands who were weaker than themselves but now had better pastures.

Once they start fighting each other because of the drought, the Tatar royal court will have to come up with a solution, otherwise the steppe will become completely chaotic over time.

The Tatar royal court did not want those large tribes, which were originally relatively peaceful, to openly take this opportunity to strengthen themselves—the further development and expansion of these already powerful tribes could indeed threaten the Tatar royal family.

In this situation, the Tatar royal family's preferred means of self-preservation has always been to raid southwards, using the wealth and even lives of the Han people to lay the foundation for the Tatars' stability and prosperity.

This was something that not only Chang Yao, the commander of Zijing Pass, understood, but also Jiang Yuan, a young general who had humbly learned from the war experience of others.

Therefore, without Chang Yaoming saying it, Jiang Yuan already realized that not only could the Marquis's Mansion not help Xie Wanniang with this matter, but even the Prefect of Baoding Prefecture would probably only be able to devote half of his energy to supervising the disaster relief efforts, while he would have to use the other half of his energy to assist the border army in resolving the upcoming war.

A loud drum doesn't need a heavy hammer. When Jiang Yuan heard Chang Yao's description of the Tatar situation, he immediately realized that his previous plans were probably not going to work.

Even Xie Wanniang's plan to hire a group of retired border soldiers to help escort the goods may not be so easy to achieve.

After all, what they were about to face was not the routine, small-scale battles of previous years, but a full-scale attack by the Tatars with all their might and a determination to win.

Those soldiers who were not forced to retire due to injury or disability, and who were able to perform all their duties, would be recalled by the Marquis's mansion in case of emergency.

Although their individual combat strength is inevitably lower than that of active-duty border troops, they are still more than three times as capable as ordinary people in the North.

Unable to target these people, Xie Wanniang had to think of other ways.

Returning home with this bad news, Jiang Yuan's expression instinctively turned somewhat aggrieved the moment he saw Xie Wanniang.

This was the first time Xie Wanniang had seen him like this, and she couldn't help but reach out and touch his head. "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yuan sat down beside her. "I can't help you with the disaster relief..."

He briefly recounted to Xie Wanniang what Chang Yao had told him about the unusual developments on the Tatar side.

Although he didn't mention anything about the classified information, the little he did mention was enough to make Xie Wanniang realize the seriousness of the matter.

She made a quick decision: "I'll leave all the guards we're used to having, except for the female guards, to you. As for Uncle Hao's young men who haven't finished their training yet, I plan to call them over for temporary backup."

Jiang Yuan shook his head, "No, that would be very dangerous for you and the child."

Xie Wanniang's gaze softened. "No."

Meeting Jiang Yuan's puzzled gaze, she said to him in an apologetic but firm tone, "I will take them back to Tang County to take refuge temporarily."

If she weren't pregnant, she would definitely stay at Zijing Pass, because she is not only skilled in martial arts, but also very good at treating external injuries. But now that she is heavily pregnant and has difficulty moving around, staying would only give the enemy an easy target to exploit and distract Jiang Yuan at crucial moments, which would be completely meaningless.

Jiang Yuan was surprised for a moment, because even when Zijing Pass was in wartime, Xie Wanniang had never said that she wanted to leave with her child because of the danger.

Even with his earnest and heartfelt advice, Xie Wanniang remained as steady as a mountain.

This made him subconsciously feel that if he wanted to send Xie Wanniang away this time, he and his wife would definitely argue about it. However, to his surprise, Xie Wanniang took the initiative to suggest returning to Tang County to avoid trouble without his earnest persuasion.

To be honest, Jiang Yuan was truly relieved that Xie Wanniang was able to make the most rational and calm decision.

He held his wife's hand and said, "Then you'll have to take at least half of the guards with you."